A distressed dog that had been abandoned by the roadside in Co Tyrone has given birth to what have been named "miracle pups".

The Shih-Tzu was rescued by Mid Ulster Council Enforcement Officers in Dungannon earlier this week and brought to the Mid-Ulster Rehoming Centre.

Scared and starving the dog's fur was so matted that her back passage had almost closed completely.

Much to the surprise of workers at the Rehoming Centre, who due to the terrible state the dog was in were unaware that she was pregnant, the Shih-Tzu gave birth to three puppies on Thursday morning.

Colleen Cunningham, Manageress at the Mid-Ulster Rehoming Centre for Dogs told Belfast Live: "We had no idea she was pregnant when she was brought to us on Tuesday.

"She was very frightened and her fur was in an awful matted state, it really is a miracle that she was able to give birth to the pups.

"She had three in total and two of them are doing well, we have one who is weak but we are trying to feed her every hour so hopefully she will get stronger."

Colleen said the workers at the centre had spent time this afternoon carefully clipping the dog's fur to enable the pups to feed.

Since posting the story on their Facebook page, Colleen said they have had a great deal of interest from people looking to help and rehome the pups.

She added: "We've had a good bit of interest from people who want to give the pups a home and we've also had a lady on inquiring if she can give the mother a home as well which is lovely, it would be great to find loving homes for all of them."

Colleen added that the re-homing centre are always on the lookout for new forever homes for the dogs they take in.